NORMAL – Two days removed from stifling the best player in the Missouri Valley Conference in Kyle Korver, SIU’s Darren Brooks showed off his skills at the other end of the court.

The sophomore guard, who averages 12.7 points per game, scored 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting to lead the Salukis to a 78-62 thrashing of Illinois State and an undisputed conference title Monday night.

Brooks dished out five assists and pulled down nine rebounds, six of which were on offense.

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“I just wanted to be consistent,” Brooks said after the game. “I got going early and my teammates really set me up on a couple of plays.”

Brooks was not half-bad on defense either. He swiped four balls and two of them led to open dunks. He now has three dunks in the last three games as a result of his defense, though his teammates and coach constantly dog the 6-foot-3 guard for making every one look uglier than its predecessor.

His two dunks Monday night barely made it over the rim.

“It didn’t look very pretty and our players laughed at him, but he got that thing down,” said SIU head coach Bruce Weber.

Brooks also held Brett Gillan, Illinois State’s starting shooting guard, to six points. The Redbirds’ other prominent shooting guard, Gregg Alexander, scored only eight points.

Weber told Brooks that he would have an assignment nearly as tough as Korver in trying to guard Alexander and Vince Green, who was guarded by Kent Williams for most of the night. Green scored 22 points.

“They’ve got pretty good shooters that are a lot like Korver,” Brooks said. “Green and Alexander, both of them. I did what I could to shut them out and try to win the game.”

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Weber said after the game he thinks Brooks has proven himself enough to deserve the MVC’s Defensive Player of the Year award. He also said Brooks should be the third Saluki on the all-conference team along with Jermaine Dearman and Williams.

“I think Darren should have a chance to be the defensive player of the year,” Weber said. “He’s shut people down all year. Quietly, he does it.”

Dearman said he could have told anyone Brooks would have a successful night. Brooks and Dearman were roommates at the hotel Sunday night, and engaged in a lengthy discussion about the seriousness of Monday’s matchup with the Redbirds.

Both agreed the win over Creighton would have been pointless if their team lost Monday, and that the Salukis would have blown any remaining hope of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

“Darren stepped up big,” said Dearman, who scored 17 points against Illinois State. “He was ready. He was mentally ready at the beginning of the game and he came up big.”

Brooks may need to accomplish the same feat Saturday. If Illinois State wins its first round matchup with Drake, SIU will face the Redbirds for the second time in a row.

And Brooks will need to shut down Gillan and Alexander again.

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